The Royals seem pretty determined to get a rightfielder, one that hits from the right-side, writes ESPN's Jayson Stark. One name he mentions as a possibility, is White Sox rightfielder Dayan Viciedo.
Teams that have talked to the Royals say they have called on just about every right-handed hitter who might be available. But they're mostly focused on right fielders, which means their options essentially come down to Byrd, Alex Rios, Dayan Viciedo, Chris Denorfia and possibly Zobrist. But the White Sox would want an extra return to deal Viciedo in the division.
Viciedo is a Cuban outfielder in his fifth season with the White Sox. He is more attractive than guys like Marlon Byrd or Alex Rios in one sense - that he is younger and cheaper. Viciedo is 25 years old (allegedly) and only earns about $1 million the remainder of the season. Next year will be his second year of arbitration-eligibility (he was a Super-Two player this year), and he under team control through 2017.
Viciedo is less attractive than Byrd and Rios in the sense that he has been terrible this year. Viciedo is hitting just .233/.283/.395 with 12 HR 36 RBI. Since his first full season in 2012 when he slammed 25 home runs, Viciedo has seen his numbers decline each season. His plate discipline is very poor, as evidenced by his 5.3% career walk rate and 21.5% strikeout rate. His .301 career on-base percentage is just ten points higher than Mike Moustakas' career on-base percentage. That's basically what he is at the plate - Mike Moustakas with more pop.
He does have pop though. From 2012-2014, he is 18th among American League outfielders in ISO at .172, better than Alex Rios. If you pro-rate his numbers over a 162 game season, he would give you 21 home runs, something sorely needed in the Royals lineup.
Defensively, Viciedo is quite a liability. He has -2.8 dWAR the last two and a half seasons, moving from left-field to right-field this year. There has been talk of him moving to designated hitter once Adam Dunn is no longer in a White Sox uniform. Its possible he could play right-field for the Royals this year and move to designated hitter next year to replace Billy Butler, but Viciedo has hardly hit well enough lately to be considered valuable as a designated hitter.
The fact that it would take an "extra return" to deal within the division coupled with Viciedo's poor plate discipline and poor defense makes him a dicey proposition. The Royals should be looking at younger players they can gamble on with some upside left, but Viciedo's skill set is so poor, the power he does provide will likely not be worth it.